Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

First and foremost issue is power loss. To over come this issue in the correct way is to ensure that power loss is almost not possible. This is done best by using an inverter box such as a sump pro system which costs right around $1800.. Now, that is the best and most desired way to go. With this unit the power can be interupted and every thing goes to battery back up as inverted through a power box. Depending upon the economy of the pumps this system can operate for days to a week.

From this point we get into more complicated and more falliable systems so the sump pro unit is the coupe deville unit if you have nice specimens and don't want to lose your collection.

General design should always be driven by efficiency. Air pumps that are efficient and of low wattage and driver pumps that are low wattage units. Of these I have a liking for the Eheim submersible pump. This unit is tough, can be abused a bit and is really quite efficient, It self primes and pumps a load well and has a minimal flow loss due to elevation.

In as much as sump systems, during the course of a power outage the water in motion will always seek it's resting height in your sump. In many cases it is impossible to have the power lost and not have an over flow situation during a power loss event. We can waste the waters but in this event we have lost the water for restart. We can place in a float valve and connect the inlet to a water source but then we must worry about chlorines in the infill water. We can use a cartridge style cannister with a carbon matrix media to remove the sterilants on this inlet fill valve and float. So long as we maintain this cartridge it should do it's job to remove the chlorines.

We may also plumb in a live secondary sump system using float valves and height floats and switching to pump the over flow to a vat storage unit that is remote. The sump would have a small pump, battery operated such as a sump pump emergency unit that would trigger during over flow stage and pump the excess water to a storage vat. Upon power return a pump within the overflow storage vat would engage via normal power voltage and return the water to the system. The excess vat would have a float switch wired to turn off at a point where the vat is near empty.

We can also wire various devices such as alarm floats and we can have services provided in which these alarm floats can remotely contact us via the telephone. I have several systems installed which inform people that their emergency sump pump system has engaged and there may be an issue at their home to investigate. This technology can be employed in our fish rooms.

We then get into the control of problems that we would like to isolate.
In my opinion a combination of ozone and a well maintained ultra violet sterilization unit are the way to go. Again, these are the coupe deville routes but you may have a collection that warrants this form of quality.

Thanks guys... Sorry its taken me a few to get to this. Was going through my electric work this weekend and i passed out after that! Whew and I would choose to do it on the hottest weekend we have had so far.

I will post pictures later as I just got through testing them. Ok now to address your posts:

Hardy - Thanks man, I appreciate the input from another planner.

Cliff - I have not used these systems but the compensating factors will be the high flow turn over and any maintenence that needs performed, I can keep up with. I have taken care of these types of set ups before, never plumbed, always sponge filters but its not that bad.

Also Cliff and IWA - I have a battery backup system that will run incase of power outage that was given to me from my grandfathers Doctor's practice. It will run an office building for 72hrs. I already planned to run all heaters and returns off of this after it comes out of a GFCI outlet and through a power surge protector. Florida thunderstorms can be a pain so I had a plant for this.

Is there a 1 way valve to put on the return? My only major drain concern is the pipe being pumped up to the top tanks. Also, I have reduced this plan by 1 rack as I am going to use the other rack as a QT rack.

IWA - Once I get some income from my breeders, I will consider the upgrade to the Mercedes Benz of the filtration world. I will be taking care of fry in most of these tanks and I will have them at the top of the set up so they recieve the cleaner water. I can then stock appropraite to the lesser clean water. Also with the system its self, I can see it being dirtier as it goes down the rack but is it really going to get THAT bad? Specially with 3/4x weekly w/c?

When talking about UV sterilization... any recommendations on a quality in line piece y'all have used?

Is there a 1 way valve to put on the return? My only major drain concern is the pipe being pumped up to the top tanks. Also, I have reduced this plan by 1 rack as I am going to use the other rack as a QT rack.

When talking about UV sterilization... any recommendations on a quality in line piece y'all have used?

I have used an Odessa 36 watt UV in the past and I really liked it. You have to plumb it off your return line tho, or add a small pump to your set-up to get the correct going through it.

One of the most reliable check valve IMO is a ball check valve. It should do what you are looking for. When I had one on my 180 gallon set-up the drain back in the sump reduced from about 30 gallons (if I’m remembering correctly) to between 2 to 3 gallons. I removed it when I up-graded the sump to a larger one so I could do water changes by taking water out of the sump. It will cost you some flow tho, around 75 to 100 gph. But they are more reliable than a swing check valve, can be taken apart for cleaning if needed, and will not contain any metal parts.

The below pics show what I am talking about. Keep in mind, the below installation is not the best. It really should be installed completely vertical for it to work at it’s best. Ball check valves have the lowest failure rates of any check valve.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

I would not let the water trickle through the system and degrade on it's way to the sump. I would take each row and plumb that row together and drop it into the filtration system and return it. I would not let any water roll from one tank into the next. The main reason for this would be oxygen depletion. I would rather filter each tank and return it than let degraded water descend down through the system. The number one advantage to a central is being able to have high Redox levels.

Hmm, See if I dont do the trickle down effect, I wont have a system. The major issues with my rack are its 3in from the door. I wont have room for all the returns. You really think oxygen will be that bad then the water is going through a waterfall constantly? I didnt even think of that...

The tanks will all have hornwart in them for buffers. I dont see myself needing to load them that heavy at the start. If o2 becomes an issue I have a piston air pump that im pushing sponge filters with in 4 75gal, several 20s and so on. This rack isnt the only one in the room, just the most "detailed"